The Strong Towns Podcast

Chuck and Rachel recap recent events in New Haven, CT and New York, NY. They also discuss some recent success stories of Strong Towns members in action. Mentioned in this podcast: "An Open Letter to the City of Springfield"  by Chuck Marohn "One Million Strong"  by Chuck Marohn Join us for  this week's  slackchat  at 12pm CT on Wednesday "Putting Portland's Urban Highway in its Place"  by Rachel Q...

In this podcast episode, Rachel Quednau interviews her colleague Kea Wilson about her journey to financial freedom and personal resilience. Kea talks about how she paid off $25,000 in college debt in less than a year and how a mindset of financial frugality and saving over spending has stayed with her since. By finding joy in low-cost, productive, simple activities and adopting a lifestyle aimed a...

Chuck and Rachel begin with some exciting news, then discuss upcoming East Coast events and debt in Puerto Rico (and what it means for all of us). Apologies; we had some issues with Chuck's audio on this one.  Mentioned in this podcast: Planetizen's List of Top 100 Most Influential Urbanists New Haven, CT  presentation  and meet-up New York City presentation and meet-up "The Spooky Nature of Debt"...

Chuck Marohn interviews Catherine Fitts, Strong Towns member and founder of the  Solari Report . Catherine served as managing director and member of the board of directors of the Wall Street investment bank Dillon, Read & Co. Inc., as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Federal Housing Commissioner at the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development in the first Bush Administration, an...

Chuck and Rachel recap a bunch of recent Strong Towns events in Spearfish, SD, Akron, OH, Santa Ana, CA, Pensacola, FL, and Holland, MI. They also discuss Chuck's Monday article,  "Rules for the Uncomfortable."

A few weeks ago, we had the pleasure of hosting a webcast for  Strong Towns members  with Ferguson, MO-based farmer, Molly Rockamann of  EarthDance Organic Farm School . This was part of a series we've been doing throughout the last few months about local food.  You can find the whole series here . Kea Wilson interviewed Molly about how the farm got started, the challenges and advantages of having...

With Chuck on the road, Rachel brings in her colleague Kea Wilson for a special edition of the Week Ahead podcast. Rachel and Kea discuss articles they've recently written and some upcoming projects. They also announce a slackchat they're hosting on Friday and discuss some favorite books. Mentioned in this podcast: "Is your state transportation system broke? Then hit up the Prius drivers!" "False...

Chris Brown is the city engineer for Fayetteville, AR and has been involved in spearheading a tactical urbanism program for the city. In this podcast interview, he talks about the life of a city engineer, his community's desire for safer streets, and how that led the city to start this new program. He also talks about the challenges of such an initiative and how to overcome them. Read more about t...

Houston has taken center stage as a city deeply impacted by Hurricane Harvey, but small towns in Texas were also devastated by this hurricane and resultant flooding. It's often the smaller towns that struggle the most to properly plan and fund their rebuilding efforts because they lack the amount of staff and varied expertise to handle challenges of this magnitude. At Strong Towns, we care about t...

Chuck Marohn interviews Chris Arnade, who  writes for the Guardian , has a PhD in particle physics from Johns Hopkins and previously worked as a bond trader in New York City. Arnade has spent the last several years documenting addiction and poverty in towns across America.  In this interview, he discusses why walking in neighborhoods that he was told not to visit in New York led him away from trad...

In this short bonus podcast, Chuck interviews Kevin Shepherd, a Strong Towns sponsor and principal at  VERDUNITY  about the new group he has formed with others in the planning and development sphere called  Cultivate Collaborative  which will help to apply Strong Towns concepts on a practical level. Kevin also discusses the group's first event in Frisco, TX on November 4 featuring Chuck Marohn and...

Caress Givens is the Community Engagement Coordinator for Milwaukee, Wisconsin's bike share program,  Bublr . In this interview hosted by Rachel Quednau, Givens discusses equity issues related to bike share: How can bike share programs best meet the needs of low-income people and reach low-income neighborhoods? Is bike share an indicator of gentrification? Givens also talks about how to fund bike...

Chuck and Rachel discuss recent perspectives about Hurricane Harvey and the aftermath in Houston. They also chat about recent favorite books and films. (We apologize that there were some issues with Rachel's audio in this episode.) Mentioned in this podcast: "The Real Lesson of Hurricane Harvey"  by Chuck Marohn "Piling on Houston"  by Chuck Marohn "Houston isn't flooded because of its land use pl...

Chuck Marohn interviews Scott Beyer, urban affairs journalist and owner of  Market Urbanism Report , who is currently traveling the country on a three-year trip visiting 30 different American cities. Chuck and Scott discuss their overlapping and diverging viewpoints on government regulations, zoning and housing affordability issues. They also compare issues in large cities with smaller towns and c...

Chuck Marohn shares the highlights from his recent family vacation to Washington DC including visits to the Library of Congress, the US Capitol, and several national monuments. He also discusses an upcoming Strong Towns event in Tulsa, OK and his recent article,  "A Spirit of Generosity."  Rachel talks about a new favorite podcast,  Left, Right & Center . Mentioned in this podcast: Event in Tulsa,...

In this podcast, Rachel Quednau interviews Alfonso Morales, a Professor of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, about public markets as part of Strong Towns'  ongoing focus on local food. They compare markets in the United States with markets around the world, discuss current factors impacting the growth of markets and talk about ways to use data to analyze the succe...

Chuck Marohn is on vacation this week, but before he left, he sat down to record a solo podcast about his new life in downtown Brainerd in response to the frequent question he gets, "How's the new neighborhood?" We'll be back with our usual Week Ahead podcast next Monday.

This week, Chuck and Rachel apologize for their recent absence on the podcast and discuss a recent article about the  California Housing Crisis . They also discuss an ongoing  Local Food campaign  and recent favorite books. Mentioned in this podcast: "California Housing Crisis"  by Charles Marohn Local Food campaign Hillbilly Elegy  by J.D. Vance Strangers in Their Own Land  by Arlie Hochschild Wh...

Chuck Marohn interviews Pete Saunders, a planner and journalist who writes for  Forbes ,  Business Insider  and other publications, as well as his blog,  The Corner Side Yard . Pete grew up in Detroit and now lives in Chicago so this discussion kicks off with a conversation about baseball (especially the Cubs and White Sox) and the relationship of stadiums and teams to their surrounding neighborho...

Chuck Marohn interviews Don Kostelec, a Strong Towns member and Senior Planning Associate at  Alta Planning + Design  based in Boise, ID. He's also the creator of  this awesome video series . Chuck and Don discuss a deadly street in Springfield, MA. (Read  Chuck's open letter to the city of Springfield  and  the follow-up article  for more back story.) They also chat about the challenges of the en...

Chuck Marohn interviews Kate Herzog, one of the first  members  of Strong Towns and Marketing & Assistant Director of  Downtown Bismarck  in Bismarck, ND. Chuck and Kate discuss the economic and political challenges in the Bismarck area and what Downtown Bismarck is doing about it. They also discuss a  "renaissance zone"  in Bismarck and the benefits and drawbacks of that program, as well as compa...

Chuck and Rachel discuss the fate of America, in light of Chuck's article from today, " Where is our  republic headed? " and whether all of our work is in vain or whether there's reason for hope. They also chat about a recent episode of  Strong Talk . Mentioned in this episode: "Where is our republic headed?" Strong Talk: Planning for Tourists vs. Residents Animal Farm  by George Orwell The Revolu...

Rachel and Chuck offer an update on their summer adventures, especially their Fourth of July experiences in their respective cities. They also talk about a recent controversial discussion on the Strong Towns Facebook page about suburban retrofit, plus some favorite new podcasts they've been listening to. MENTIONED IN THIS PODCAST: This week's  Slackchat  on incremental development Strong Towns Fac...

Chuck and Rachel check in after a couple weeks away (Rachel was traveling for her wedding and honeymoon). Chuck offers an update on recent events in Atlanta, GA, Calgary, AB and Utica, NY, including one at which he was made an honorary citizen and given a cowboy hat. Chuck and Rachel also talk about the best books they've recently read. Mentioned in this podcast: The Happiness Hypothesis: Minding...

This is the last day of our member drive and we're taking a look at what comes next for Strong Towns. Sign up to be a member at  http://www.strongtowns.org/membership